Category: disobedient Christian punishment

“When did the future switch from being a promise to being a threat?” ― Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

Despite our best efforts, we in the American police state seem to be stuck on repeat, reliving the same set of circumstances over and over and over again: egregious surveillance, strip searches, police shootings of unarmed citizens, government spying, censorship, retaliatory arrests, the criminalization of lawful activities, warmongering, indefinite detentions, SWAT team raids, asset forfeiture, etc.

Unfortunately, as a nation we’ve become so desensitized to the government’s acts of violence, so accustomed to reports of government corruption, and so anesthetized to the sights and sounds of Corporate America marching in lockstep with the police state that few seem to pay heed to the warning signs blaring out the message: Danger Ahead.

Remember, the Titanic received at least four warnings from other ships about the presence of icebergs in its path, with the last warning issued an hour before disaster struck. All four warnings were ignored.

Like the Titanic, we’re plowing full steam ahead into a future riddled with hidden and not-so-hidden dangers. We too have been given ample warnings, only to have them drowned out by a carefully choreographed cacophony of political noise, cultural distractions and entertainment news—what the Romans termed “bread and circuses”—aimed at keeping the American people polarized, pacified and easily manipulated.

However, there is still danger ahead. The peril to our republic remains the same.

As long as a permanent, unelected bureaucracy—a.k.a. the shadow government— continues to call the shots in the halls of power and the reach of the police state continues to expand, the crisis has not been averted.

Here’s a glimpse of some of the nefarious government programs we’ll be encountering on our journey through the treacherous waters of 2017.

Mandatory quarantines without due process or informed consent: Under a new rule proposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, government agents will be empowered to indefinitely detain any traveler they suspect of posing a medical risk to others without providing an explanation, subject them to medical tests without their consent, and carry out such detentions and quarantines without any kind of due process or judicial review.

Mental health assessments by non-medical personnel: As a result of a nationwide push to train a broad spectrum of so-called gatekeepers such as pastors, teachers, hair stylists, bartenders, police officers and EMTs in mental health first-aid training, more Americans are going to run the risk of being reported by non-medical personnel and detained for having mental health issues.

Military training to deal with anti-establishment movements in megacities: The future, according to a Pentagon training video, will be militaristic, dystopian and far from friendly to freedom. Indeed, if this government propaganda-piece that is being used to train special forces is to be believed, the only thing that can save the world from outright anarchy—in the eyes of the government, at least—is the military working in conjunction with local police. The video confirms what I’ve been warning about for so long: in the eyes of the U.S. government and its henchmen, the battlefield of the future is the American home front.

Government censorship of anything it classifies as disinformation: This year’s National Defense Authorization Act, which allocates $619 billion for war and military spending, not only allows the military to indefinitely detain American citizens by placing them beyond the reach of the Constitution, but it also directs the State Department to establish a national anti-propaganda center to “counter disinformation and propaganda.” Translation: the government plans to crack down on anyone attempting to exercise their First Amendment rights by exposing government wrongdoing, while persisting in peddling its own brand of fake news.

Threat assessments: Government agents—with the help of automated eyes and ears, a growing arsenal of high-tech software, hardware and techniques, government propaganda urging Americans to turn into spies and snitches, as well as social media and behavior sensing software—are spinning a sticky spider-web of threat assessments, behavioral sensing warnings, flagged “words,” and “suspicious” activity reports aimed at snaring potential enemies of the state. It’s the American police state rolled up into one oppressive pre-crime and pre-thought crime package.

War on cash: The government and its corporate partners are engaged in a concerted campaign to do away with large bills such as $20s, $50s, $100s and shift consumers towards a digital mode of commerce that can easily be monitored, tracked, tabulated, mined for data, hacked, hijacked and confiscated when convenient. As economist Steve Forbes concludes, “The real reason for this war on cash—start with the big bills and then work your way down—is an ugly power grab by Big Government. People will have less privacy: Electronic commerce makes it easier for Big Brother to see what we’re doing, thereby making it simpler to bar activities it doesn’t like, such as purchasing salt, sugar, big bottles of soda and Big Macs.”

Expansive surveillance: Whether you’re walking through a store, driving your car, checking email, or talking to friends and family on the phone, you can be sure that some government agency, whether the NSA or some other entity, will still be listening in and tracking your behavior. This doesn’t even begin to touch on the corporate trackers who work with the government to monitor your purchases, web browsing, Facebook posts and other activities taking place in the cyber sphere. In such an environment, we are all suspects to be spied on, searched, scanned, frisked, monitored, tracked and treated as if we’re potentially guilty of some wrongdoing or other.

Militarized police: Americans are finding their once-peaceful communities transformed into military outposts, complete with tanks, weaponry, and other equipment designed for the battlefield. Now, the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department and the FBI are preparing to turn the nation’s police officers into techno-warriors, complete with iris scanners, body scanners, thermal imaging Doppler radar devices, facial recognition programs, license plate readers, cell phone extraction software, Stingray devices and so much more.

Police shootings of unarmed citizens: Owing in large part to the militarization of local law enforcement agencies, not a week goes by without more reports of hair-raising incidents by police imbued with a take-no-prisoners attitude and a battlefield approach to the communities in which they serve. Indeed, as a special report by The Washington Post reveals, despite heightened awareness of police misconduct, the number of fatal shootings by officers in 2016 remained virtually unchanged from the year before.

Attempts by the government to identify, target and punish so-called domestic “extremists”: The government’s anti-extremism program will, in many cases, be utilized to render otherwise lawful, nonviolent activities as potentially extremist. To this end, police will identify, monitor and deter individuals who exhibit, express or engage in anything that could be construed as extremist before they can become actual threats. This is pre-crime on an ideological scale.

SWAT team raids: More than 80% of American communities have their own SWAT teams, with more than 80,000 of these paramilitary raids are carried out every year. That translates to more than 200 SWAT team raids every day in which police crash through doors, damage private property, kill citizens, terrorize adults and children alike, kill family pets, assault or shoot anyone that is perceived as threatening—and most often in the pursuit of someone merely suspected of a crime, usually some small amount of drugs.

Overcriminalization: The government’s tendency towards militarization and overcriminalization, in which routine, everyday behaviors become targets of regulation and prohibition, has resulted in Americans getting arrested for making and selling unpasteurized goat cheese, cultivating certain types of orchids, feeding a whale, holding Bible studies in their homes, and picking their kids up from school.

Strip searches and the denigration of bodily integrity: Court rulings undermining the Fourth Amendment and justifying invasive strip searches have left us powerless against police empowered to forcefully draw our blood, forcibly take our DNA, strip search us, and probe us intimately. Accounts are on the rise of individuals—men and women alike—being subjected to what is essentially government-sanctioned rape by police in the course of “routine” traffic stops.

Drones: As corporations and government agencies alike prepare for their part in the coming drone invasion—it is expected that at least 30,000 drones will occupy U.S. airspace by 2020, ushering in a $30 billion per year industry—it won’t be long before American citizens find themselves to be the target of these devices. Drones—unmanned aerial vehicles—will come in all shapes and sizes, from nano-sized drones as small as a grain of sand that can do everything from conducting surveillance to detonating explosive charges, to middle-sized copter drones that can deliver pizzas to massive “hunter/killer” Predator warships that unleash firepower from on high.

Censorship: First Amendment activities are being pummeled, punched, kicked, choked, chained and generally gagged all across the country. Free speech zones, bubble zones, trespass zones, anti-bullying legislation, zero tolerance policies, hate crime laws and a host of other legalistic maladies dreamed up by politicians and prosecutors have conspired to corrode our core freedoms. The reasons for such censorship vary widely from political correctness, safety concerns and bullying to national security and hate crimes but the end result remains the same: the complete eradication of what Benjamin Franklin referred to as the “principal pillar of a free government.”

Fascism: As a Princeton University survey indicates, our elected officials, especially those in the nation’s capital, represent the interests of the rich and powerful rather than the average citizen. We are no longer a representative republic. With Big Business and Big Government having fused into a corporate state, the president and his state counterparts—the governors—have become little more than CEOs of the Corporate State, which day by day is assuming more government control over our lives. Never before have average Americans had so little say in the workings of their government and even less access to their so-called representatives.

James Madison, the father of the Constitution, put it best when he warned: “Take alarm at the first experiment with liberties.” Anyone with even a casual knowledge about current events knows that the first experiment on our freedoms happened long ago.

We are fast moving past the point of no return when it comes to restoring our freedoms. Worse, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we can barely see the old America with its revolutionary principles and value for independence in the rear view mirror. The only reality emerging generations will know is the one constructed for them by the powers-that-be, and you can rest assured that it will not be a reality that favors individuality, liberty or anything or anyone who challenges the status quo.

As a senior advisor to George W. Bush observed, “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

In other words, the government has been operating ten steps ahead for quite some time now, and we have yet to catch up, let alone catch our breath as the tides of change swirl around us.

You’d better tighten your seatbelts, folks, because we could be in for a rough ride in 2017.

https://dochub.com/timesoftrouble offers a good choice being many [over 235] individual reads on various subjects concerning the major mess America and our entire world civilization is truly in; and includes worldwide misled Christianity according to the Bible which has left billions not spiritually prepared for what is soon to become the worst timesoftrouble ever on this planet.

Then the disciples came to Him and asked, “Why do you speak to the crowds in parables?” Jesus replied to them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has [spiritual wisdom because he is receptive to God’s word], to him more will be given, and he will be richly and abundantly supplied; but whoever does not have [spiritual wisdom because he has devalued God’s word], even what he has will be taken away from him. This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables: because while [having the power of] seeing they do not see, and while [having the power of] hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand and grasp [spiritual things]. In them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will hear and keep on hearing, but never understand;
And you will look and keep on looking, but never comprehend;

For this nation’s heart has grown hard,
And with their ears they hardly hear,
And they have [tightly] closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart, and turn [to Me]
And I would heal them [spiritually].’ Matthew 13:10-15 (AMP)

Following are words this world of Christianity, through actions, really has no understanding of;

“If the world hates you [and it does], know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love [you as] its own and would treat you with affection. But you are not of the world [you no longer belong to it], but I have chosen you out of the world. And because of this the world hates you. Remember [and continue to remember] that I told you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But they will do all these [hurtful] things to you for My name’s sake [because you bear My name and are identified with Me], for they do not know the One who sent Me. John 15:18-21

Meaning of how Christian’s Hate Yeshua Messiah and Yehovah God the Father

This series of scriptures will highlight the world’s danger to us. The apostle James writes: “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God”

Do not all worldly Christians look only to themselves through material wants and desires while doing no deed for others, which our Father sees?

(James 4:4). This epistle is written to a Christian congregation. Even as the Old Testament shows Israel to be a spiritual adulteress to God through the people’s disobedience following the making of the Old Covenant, so are Christians—as part of the bride of Christ, having made the New Covenant—spiritual adulterers when they unfaithfully disobey.

James is not saying these people are lost. He is warning them that they are heading in that direction because they were backsliding, having already been unfaithful. The unstated, yet clear cause of their being drawn back is the world, as if it were the seductive temptress of Proverbs 7.

James’ counsel is that we cannot straddle the fence between YHVH and the world. He is expounding the “no man can serve two masters” principle. These two relationships—YHVH God and the world—frame a black-and-white issue; this war has no neutral zone. A person cannot pursue his self-centered, selfish worldly ambitions and still remain loyal to Yehovah.

The apostle uses the word philos, indicating something dear, which the New King James Version translates as “friend.” He is stressing an affectionate, emotional attachment. Interestingly, The New Testament in Modern English by J.B. Phillips (1959) renders the warning as, “You are like unfaithful wives, flirting with the glamour of this world, and never realizing that to be the world’s lover means becoming the enemy of God!” Seen this way, James describes them as silly, immature children, thoughtlessly gambling away their futures in the Kingdom of God.

I John 2:15 adds a refinement to James’ warning: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” The Greek word translated as “love” is agapao, which suggests a reasoned, determined love. Thus, John’s counsel stresses willfulness rather than mere affectionate attachment. In comparison, one could even describe philos as an unbidden “puppy love,” but agapao—never.

John is saying that we should not have intimate fellowship combined with loyal devotion to the world. Our relationship to it must be a more distant, hands-off one. We certainly must live and do business within it, but we have to fight to keep it from becoming the focus of our way of life. The spiritual reality is that, as we might say today, “The world stands ready to eat us alive.” It chews Christians up and spits them out. If permitted, it can trash spiritual realities that may once have been cherished hopes and dreams.

Galatians 6:14 provides another guiding principle to hold dear: “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” This is an example of Paul’s spiritual outlook and maturity regarding his relationship with the world. As far as any relationship between him and the world is concerned, the world is dead and crucified, and so is he to it. It is vivid imagery. How much willful devotion can a person have in a relationship going nowhere because both parties are “dead” to each other with what follows adding more factual truth Christians seem to ignore.

Faith and Works

What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces good works.] If a brother or sister is without [adequate] clothing and lacks [enough] food for each day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace [with my blessing], [keep] warm and feed yourselves,” but he does not give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do? So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective].

But someone may say, “You [claim to] have faith and I have [good] works; show me your [alleged] faith without the works [if you can], and I will show you my faith by my works [that is, by what I do].” You believe that God is one; you do well [to believe that]. The demons also believe [that], and shudder and bristle [in awe-filled terror—they have seen His wrath]! But are you willing to recognize, you foolish [spiritually shallow] person, that faith without [good] works is useless? Was our father Abraham not [shown to be] justified by works [of obedience which expressed his faith] when he offered Isaac his son on the altar [as a sacrifice to God]? You see that [his] faith was working together with his works, and as a result of the works, his faith was completed [reaching its maturity when he expressed his faith through obedience]. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and this [faith] was credited to him [by God] as righteousness and as conformity to His will,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man (believer) is justified by works and not by faith alone [that is, by acts of obedience a born-again believer reveals his faith]. In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works too, when she received the [Hebrew] spies as guests and protected them, and sent them away [to escape] by a different route? For just as the [human] body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works [of obedience] is also dead. James 2:14-26

This is the fruit of the carnal mind having their persistently disobedient attitude.

“Now the mind of the flesh is death [both now and forever—because it pursues sin]; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace [the spiritual well-being that comes from walking with God—both now and forever]; the mind of the flesh [with its sinful pursuits] is actively hostile to God. It does not submit itself to God’s law, since it cannot, and those who are in the flesh [living a life that caters to sinful appetites and impulses] cannot please God.

However, you are not [living] in the flesh [controlled by the sinful nature] but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God lives in you [directing and guiding you]. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him [and is not a child of God]. Romans 8:6-9 (AMP)

The whole worldly system is anti-God. Even though the Christian world patronizes Him, in reality, it hates Jesus Christ, and therefore it hates those who truly follow Him just as I have been experiencing through these past nine years. There is a simple reason why this continual reality exists.

Paul had renounced the whole worldly system. It no longer had any appeal to him; he was, in effect, dead in relation to it. [Disassociated] However, the world’s pressure never ends, which Paul notes in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world.” The Greek more correctly reads, “Stop allowing yourself to be fashioned to the pattern of this age,” or as the J.B. Phillips translation puts it, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold.”

This is the danger we face when we allow the world to become too important. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. The world subtly but inexorably manipulates us into conformity with its thinking, its value systems, and therefore its attitudes and conduct. If we are alert and truly guarding against an invasion of worldly attitudes and practices, we will soon be able to notice when others relapse into following the course of the world; and who might that be?

“Behold, God puts no trust in His holy ones (angels);
Indeed, the heavens are not pure in His sight—

How much less [pure and clean is] the one who is repulsive and corrupt,
Man, who drinks unrighteousness and injustice [worldly ways] like water! Job 15:15-16
“The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the children of men
To see if there are any who understand (act wisely),
Who [truly] seek after God, [longing for His wisdom and guidance].

They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one. Psalms 14:2-3

The persistent influence of the world is a reality because Satan, the god of this world, is its driving force (2 Corinthians 4:4). The world is Satan’s medium, through which he broadcasts his propaganda and disinformation. By confusing people about what to believe, he intends to manipulate humanity. Satan’s pitch to mankind is aimed directly at exciting human nature’s self-indulgent cravings, and he is very good at all he does through being the father of lies all worldly people believe, love, follow and worship in their own unknown ways.

Due to this Satanic effort, even though we are converted, we are apt to become misinformed, lackadaisical, disinterested, and discouraged. We must be aware of it and absolutely resist it. The apostles’ advice about avoiding intimacy with the world is a form of the proverb, “Evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Friendship with the world corrupts, and sadly my brothers and sisters worldwide, has not selfish ways made all friends with this world?

My wife and I have had a hard time ever since we met in 2007. Me, an American with age and no work in the Philippines, my wife with physical difficulties, we just have no money, and even no more rice. Any help at all would come as a blessing

https://dochub.com/timesoftrouble offers a good choice being many [over 230] individual reads on various subjects concerning the major mess America and our entire world civilization is truly in; and includes worldwide misled Christianity according to the Bible which has left billions not spiritually prepared for what is soon to become the worst timesoftrouble ever on this planet.

The title of this writing follows a short distance below with many very important topics for discussion on the way this world truly is, and what you should expect to become of your own personal life along with family, children, and friends everywhere on this earth.

Who am I? Certainly no preacher, no prophet, no evangelist, and not even a church member or part of the uncountable beliefs and religious organizations worldwide; but rather being a man that has become completely disassociated with worldly ways while seeking spiritual education not of this world, but rather from the 3rd heaven where Yehovah Elohim is on His throne with Yeshua by His side.

My biblical studies began in 1989 as a loner. When the end of 2006 arrived, I became as displaced through leaving the USA on a one way ticket to the Philippines; and being I had little money, it was gone in one month. So with no income of any kind, and no employment for an American now 61, as years pass by through living without many basic needs – our [My wife and I] entire life became one of living on faith with no trust in man for help or knowledge; therefore became as a living sacrifice dying to ourselves daily. . .

. . .while only seeking direction from above — rather than from this misled and deceived world as it is written in the Bible through scripture not believed by Christianity — but Christians will say they do believe this world has been deceived – everyone but themselves being over two billion — while not even knowing who they are, who Israel is, about Esau and Jacob spiritually,

what the church actually is, where Satan dwells, and just how Elohim [God] views shepherds and all Christian believers worldwide; and even though some answers all need to know in the Bible are now being made available from scripture for direction of your own studies – it is ‘your own choice’ to learn now, or wait until during affliction, wrath and tribulation growing very near according to the signs of the times.

Let’s now get into our “Serious Matter Regarding all Humanity:”

We can concentrate our first endless discussion on how prescription drugs taken as directed kill 100,000 Americans a year. That’s one person every five minutes, or why children with autism has risen 78% in the past decade, or why more than 30 vaccines are being given to children before age 3, or why children today are less healthy than 50 years ago, or why so many more obese people today than decades past?

We can talk about atrocious acts upon people happening moment by moment in various places worldwide, and many are the quality or state of so being atrocious, that words can in no way accurately describe what suffering hundreds of millions have been and are going through. Just a fractional glance can be viewed in these links.

We can exchange much sad truth about human trafficking being a multi-billion dollar business scattered worldwide, or about how children of all ages are drugged for the purpose of sex slavery, thus placing their extreme suffering mentally and physically which goes far beyond words. What if it was you as a slave with a price tag? What if you were placed into labor without pay? What if you were pushed into sickening, filthy, disgusting sexual situations of every kind? What if you were killed just so your organs could be sold to someone in need for liver, pancreas, heart, lungs or whatever? What is done with near an estimated 25 million victims equals a very sad truth the majority of humans turn their backs on just as all other worldly wrongs upon one very gullible civilization. This is another vital subject with no end for discussion.

We can view how this world of charities massive in size to small for helping people through every sad category are in truth nothing more, for the most part, than greedy liars lining their own pockets just as politicians, evangelists, preachers, and our entire world of corruption always taking from the have-nots in our dying human race. Just do your own word search on corrupt charities while knowing none can really be trusted. Think of giving like this; if caring people would help others directly, they would feel happy, and be happy because another’s smile was their guarantee on doing good – whereas hundreds, thousands, millions to billions go to uncountable charities worldwide – while those in need are lucky if they ever even receive pennies on the dollar; kinda like the way today’s world of Christianity gives to other believers in need from compassion none have that I have experienced for 10 years now.

We can boast about our beliefs, our religion, our own God, or being saved – because to most all believers, their way is the only way with everyone not as them being wrong – but when we can eliminate the middleman by going directly to Yehovah through following His book of instruction, we will become spiritually led just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were led into the fiery furnace. Know also that to walk the walk as instructed is no easy life, but rather to present yourself as a living sacrifice. (Daniel 3:8-30, James 1:22-25, Romans 12:1-2)

We can always just bring up subjects of interest concerning all as food for thought; so what about increased earthquakes partially due fracking? What about millions of dying fish, fowl, and world food shortages? What about nations with nuclear, biological, chemical weapons on the rise against each other? What about all the prophetic signs of the times in the Bible? What about only one genuine truth not believed in Revelation 12:9 within a world civilization so divided there are millions of different truths from every belief and every religion?

We can detail the way women are violently raped when only trying to collect water or wood to burn in areas of great drought with famine, or the way ISIS and other rebel groups use women, girls and boys as worthless throw away sex toys; and even more sad is their brutal ways of rape and sodomy bringing some victims to a torturous death. So what is really being done for our entire human race? Ted talk shows talking the talk? Politicians never doing anything but speaking lies while having zero concern for humanity? Billions of Christians singing and praising God while feeding the preachers belly in the house of Satan? If only so-called Christians would study to show themselves approved by walking their commanded walk – Yehovah Elohim would be spiritually teaching them what no human can.

We can make mention of the over 60 million refugees/displaced people worldwide, and just as all humanly researched figures – when it comes right down to human suffering, and this world of have-nots lacking a life with anything good, the figure could easily be way higher when the lives of people scattered worldwide have been viewed. Want to know what makes few different then the many worldwide? Their mode of life becomes learning of the lives of others worldwide through famine, drought, rebel violence, drug cartels, torture, diseases, massive unknown graves, genocide, volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, typhoons, tsunamis, and hurricanes leaving nothing but a trail of death and destruction while asking themselves – What if it was me instead of one of them? Why would any person ever ask themselves that question? Because they can see the cards of life so plain that their worst ever thought could happen to them.

We can only communicate genuinely if our minds become disassociated with worldly material things as made clear in Colossians 3, because only then can our conversation become spiritually lead with understand while knowing we have been brought together for a purpose in helping others during these coming years with much affliction, wrath, and tribulation; and what you just read has so much importance that this link must be read on the two witnesses and the 144,000 with much unknown truth for firstfruits – if they have chosen obedience over worldly ways.

We can as individuals being few detailed in link above and below, have our purpose laid out just as Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel, Elijah, Job, Amos, Paul and all others chosen for Yehovah’s use during these end times according to His will; therefore we expect no worldly friends or pleasure through material objects that shall perish — thus do as we are being spiritually instructed to prepare for delivering a message of truth majorities of this world don’t want to hear – yet we do it regardless because that is our only real purpose in our temporary human life.

We can discuss the many ways of human torture with detail, because somewhere right now it’s happening to any number of people being of all ages; and with that thought – what if it was you being tortured? Have you ever taken the time to view tools of torture and the way they are used? I have many times, and to think of myself being tortured in the many ways it is done is no pleasant thought!! What if ways of life you never expected were to come upon you without warning? Look at FEMA, the CIA, FBI, and this world’s population with a great hate for Americans because of the many millions killed in secret wars against third world countries; and then give some thought to the American Genocide against the peoples of Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Iraq, and elsewhere – so ask yourself this – if you were seeing a great killer nation getting ready to fall with a chance to participate while remembering what they did to you, your family, your life, your country, and all the innocent inhabitants, would not you jump at the opportunity for revenge? What all humans need to do is wear the other shoe as if it was them, rather than being the judge against others, when in truth they would be the same through hateful blindness. Do a study on secret wars, bloodshed, torture, and genocide with America being the culprit, then awake for the worst timesoftrouble en route.

We can debate human conditions in America on its downward spiral out of control spin with no hope, but what good has any debate or argument ever provided other than a public drama by politicians meant only to brainwash viewers, or for some just to increase that invisible wall of hate against anybody or anything anywhere being a fabricated lie? and all religions are no different, except they sell their lies for tithes and love offerings. Either way debates mean absolutely nothing because what is is — thus we can only speak what we know spiritually through good intent while just leaving others to their own self just as the message in Ezekiel chapter 2.

We can deeply focus on the all Seeing Eye or the occult symbolism all around us everywhere as a sign of a planned human control with its start millenniums ago – but sadly; most all humans deny the way things truly are because they lack spiritual knowledge on why Lucifer was created to become a Satanic world deceiver. If you are one of the few called out of this world in John 15:19, you should know there is a purpose for all things. 2 Timothy 2:21 (EXB) So for any wanting a good overview on world reality, below can be very educational for any unbiased mind.

We can express ourselves on just how badly messed up our entire human race really is, but to no avail because our entire population has become as psychologically controlled slaves. Have you ever looked at the inhuman animals Americans have allowed to run and destroy their country? Now look to see other countries worldwide in their own downhill mess without hope, and what do you see? Better days ahead in a crumbling human race with death in the air? Much about our crumbling civilization being approximately 240 individual reads can be viewed in the link below.

We can arbitrate on world problems always becoming worse and worse without our own solution, because spiritually speaking; judgment has already been made and witnessed as written in many books of the Bible. — “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath alreadybeen; and Elohim requireth that which is past”. Do you have understanding from Ecclesiastes 3:15 and the other verses in the same book? Just for a glimpse of what has already been, read Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28, Ezekiel 5, and many more books on end time events that have already been in the eternal eyes of our creator being everywhere always without time or distance with special notice on the 66 verses in Lamentations chapter 3 – because those words give this world of disobedient Christians a vision of their own coming future. Think it’s my imagination through 27 years of wanting to know YHVH while never becoming a church member at 61?

We can converse in depth on the New World Order in progress of eliminating billions of people on this earth, and there is nothing bearing more grim sadness than America’s coming downfall through completely stripping all people of their rights and freedom – but when really looked at, is not that what the corrupt American government has always done to their controlled population? Four years ago I wrote and had published a 474 page book titled ‘Message For This Entire Human Race’ having much detail on how all people in America have been thoroughly brainwashed, and how this was accomplished. Even though it never sold, there was still plenty of education on how and why things regarding humanity truly are. The link below offers much well researched information not only on the Georgia Guidestones, but also symbolism, mind control, and all the unseen unknown darkness the almost in place New World Order holds over all humanity in many different ways.

We can make known how Americans killed by sick cops http://killedbypolice.net/ now outnumber Americans killed in the Iraq war; and when you read all the stories on those wrongly imprisoned as scapegoats to make others look good as if job well done, or the guilty released to repeat their gruesome rapes and murders along with all those innocent being shot, tased, or beaten to death – just think of the many thousands of unreported brutal crimes made by police who are suppose to serve and protect! The truth is to become a police officer this day has become as an open market for any sick mind with macho want to kill [just as the military] and do whatever they please under their badge and identity as the law – because their gun, taser, club, hand cuffs, rib busting kicking shoes with other deranged cops helping makes them real tough in the same way as Clintons, Obama, Bush and all the political blood draining scum worldwide with ‘all misleading religions’ and the Pope included — because much blood shall their lies4tithes bring. Once again, this link below sheds much true light on how Yehovah views all religious titles.

We can bring to light how American government has completely turned their backs to veterans, and always has for many reasons which include their small pay, losing their spouses through being separated, taking ignorant orders from the deranged top down, risking their lives, losing their sanity, and returning to a life of depression, unemployment, drugs, alcohol, and just different ways of slow death having no one that really cares along with a government pissing all over them – rather than helping with their every need. What about Vietnam for but one example being a worthless so-called war? A soldier named Galinac is among the roughly 2.8 million U.S. military personnel — out of 7.4 million total — who served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 and were exposed to Agent Orange, one of several potent defoliants deployed by the military (20 million gallons) to destroy the Vietnamese jungle and, along with it, the enemy’s hiding place. Galinac died at the age of 64 on April 24, 2013, almost two years after being diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, common among Vietnam veterans. Know also is how America has been a major supplier of hard drugs as a lucrative business while also dumbing minds, so even way back then shipped heroin to America in soldiers body bags; — and 20 years later came another man made so-called war with a different way of destroying soldiers lives through ‘Desert Storm’ and other man made conflicts causing veterans who returned with a mysterious and deadly illness supplied by their own government, and the government of Iraq just as our murdered Vietnam vets. And Americans love their country which is only out to exterminate them all in the end. Welcome to America, land of the free and home of the brave soldiers that are shit on by their loving righteous government out to wipe out the entire nation through the purposely controlled and dumb down population living in their own darkness with death coming. In addition:

We can also, in no uncertain terms, discuss how in the same way the U.S. has also turned against the entire population – thus putting the 324 million en route to becoming another 3rd world nation filled with corruption, violence, hunger, disease, terrorism, prison camps, massive graves, no truth, and no gospel along with Christians turning against each other – and extreme cannibalism lying ahead just as written in the Bible that Christians don’t believe because their church is an illusion, and so is the rapture along with all the doctrines of man millions have put their faith in. In other words when the rapture comes a little girl not saved is being beaten and raped, so the millions of saved better than thou Christians just say sorry — as they soar into the clouds. Talk about pathetic stupidity!

We can have strong discussion on FEMA camps, guillotines, gas chambers, perhaps millions of plastic coffins, portable prison or containment cells, and many other subjects regarding what is happening in America; however, rather than argue, judge, hate, despise and believe only our own misled mind – the only direction we can take must be according to His will through our prayers asking Him to direct our path – and never our own worldly ways through all knowing pride being wrong and worthless. Proverbs 3:5-6, 14:12, 16:18

We can speak on the way billions shall fall under the slow kill genocide which has been at work in many ways for decades worldwide; and in my link supplied, this subject along with many more, such as mind control, are presented as a smorgasbord to keep a steady flow of information which concerns the nearing future of our entire human race. Below is the shockingly very sad truth on how 262 million have been murdered by human rule with the total this day being closer to 300 million. Also a book that really has more solid education than this world of fools can see while fiddling with text, social sites, religious smorgasboards, media lies, and this world of evil lurking and readying to pounce on the billions living in their own false light of darkness.

We can share feelings of disgust with fear for our own safety, health, families, children, and loved ones when realities on what humans have been doing with so many millions of tons garbage, or uncountable toxic containers containing every imaginable danger to health along with all the massive amounts of nuclear waste off loaded into ocean depths which all have their own lifespan to contain what is within; in other words our planet has become as a time bomb with a slow fuse; and when the massive little known to most radiation leak in this link has been viewed. . .

Everything about what humans have always done to each other along with this planet will become known when for the first time the message of Elohim’s kingdom is made known worldwide by the two witnesses being the 144,000 – only then during the midst of the worst timesoftrouble ever before on this earth will humans become aware as death creeps upon them through great suffering of why all these things must be.

We can discuss the largest food and beverage companies that combined make $1 billion each day, but have no concern over the consumers health they fill with unhealthy foods and drink loaded with toxins and chemicals. Would you eat your favorite breakfast cereal if you knew that it contained Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT), a product also used in jet fuel and embalming fluid? Can you imagine grilling your low fat veggie burger if you found out that its main ingredient is Monosodium Glutamate MSG being a Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets? If energy drinks like Red Bull and others are a cocktail of death, imagine what has also been added to popular soft drinks? If you really know what the contents of soft drinks are, you would not think it is “soft”. It is really “hard” on your health. There is much more information available to any seeking the way things truly are everywhere on this earth, but how many really study to show themselves approved rather than self-pride? Just as all matters, facts for discussion have no end.

We can deeply consult and compare opinions because none of us know all things or are perfect; therefore can learn from each other through faith and prayer when spiritually minded through using scripture as our advisor for all matters at hand, and then carry on with fact on all subjects as they truly are, such as PHARMA, physicians, dentists, vaccines, government created diseases, and this world of lies which is ruled by the father of lies all humans “of this world” believe according to the Bible.

We can loudly express the many ways the elite world controllers have psychologically dumb down all civilization through having control over all major media, television, religions, education, governments, celebrities, music, and basically everything in every way having to do with blocking minds from seeing the fall of America, and through years ahead, our entire human race which has become as a cancer to this earth. So speak the Georgia Guidestones and the Holy Bible as the only true and accurate road maps – [with a touch of spiritual fine tuning due flaws in all versions of the Bible along with all the twists in everything via human bias] – defining all civilization destinies on this globe. Isaiah 26:9, 20-21 (EXB) 24:5-13 (ESV)

We can as individuals conciliate, placate or pacify others through misleading words caused by the spirit of Esau within this world of disobedient Christians, but how can people possibly not see or hear what is all around and everywhere right in front of them? Because humans see only themselves through their natural minds not called out of this world according to scripture never taught. Want spiritual enlightenment? Spend some time on biblical reality being where I spend all of mine through years past to this day in December of 2016 March of 2017 for revision as led.

We can more than just make mention of the endless universe, why earth, why humanity; and in addition ask ourselves endless questions about horrid world conditions, or why Yehovah as the only true Elohim [God] would allow such atrocities? Or Allah who is capricious through seeing a merciful smiling Elohim one minute followed with righteous beheading the next? No wonder the Arabs are unstable in their ways! Buddhists believe that the ultimate goal in life is to achieve “enlightenment” as they perceive it while not seeming very enlightened in any way on what has been happening worldwide ever since the beginning of humanity. Fact is this – whomever or whatever people believe in has always allowed so much human suffering for thousands of years, that people everywhere just look the other way or make up their own stories on why this or that has happened. So why must these things be? The answer becomes clear when spiritually understood; and the links I share supply what the religions of man worldwide have never taught their congregation.

Again — Become aware also that the over 200 pages I wrote years ago details through scripture on exactly how our creator views all shepherds/ministers/pastors/bishops/etc and churches worldwide as the blind leading the blind while bringing much shed blood from whom they preach and sell their intentional and unintentional misleading lies too. This writing below also supplies how to gain YHVH’s [God] protection on this earth during the worst timesoftrouble en route growing closer as time passes. Truth is not smooth as all would like to have it – yet still remains what really is.

We can only examine our own self through simply asking; what have I ever really done for fellow human beings? Or what have I ever really done for this planet? Or most important, what have I ever really and truly done for my God that I claim to love so much? If you’re Christian, answer the question in Luke 6:46 while knowing of your faith through James 1:22-25 and 2:14-17 according to your actions which all shall be judged. 1 Samuel 2:3, Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, Jeremiah 17:10, etc.

We can now confront our greatest enemy being our own mind wanting to take us anywhere and everywhere – except where YHVH wants us to go. Why do I speak these words and what exactly do they mean? First, look at our civilization this day with over 7.4 billion going in only the direction their mind leads. Next look at all the religions of this world going in the same direction as their mind leads which makes them no different through division.

I have had a nonstop plea towards all Christianity through these past 10 years that my wife and I have needed any help possible for our basic necessities in life, such as food, or whatever small amount any good hearted person with compassion can spare. Just original Kraft mac and cheese I have missed for a decade, and it’s been about a month since I ran out of good imported peanut butter and jelly like Skippy and Smuckers. I love coffee, but have been stuck drinking Nescafe 3&1 instant since 2007. Love to cook and prepare meals, but have not been able with nothing good to cook, no stove, not even our own home; and added has been the physical, mental, and spiritual battles my wife has been going through since 2009 due many health issues such as Myoma, UTI, Congenital Heart, and even more.

What hurts most is Yehovah’s truth regarding the action of Christianity towards others in need, because every word spoken in the Bible about the disobedient Christian walk has been proven very true through many years of experience while living in hardship and many difficulties; however, when a believer fully realizes that Yehovah Elohim knows all things, all we can do is live on faith, and wait on whatever His will may be.

We can only try for years and years while keeping our faith, so please help us.

jeffcallarman@ymail.com This is my email and also Paypal ID – so some rice would be very nice at $40 per sack at 50 kilo.

The accident in the link below happened in April 2016, and I still have not been able to make all the needed repairs even though I am a mechanic, welder, bodywork, and man of many trades without good tools and zero funds.

https://dochub.com/timesoftrouble offers a good choice being many [over 240] individual reads on various subjects concerning the major mess America and our entire world civilization is truly in; and includes worldwide misled Christianity according to the Bible which has left billions not spiritually prepared for what is soon to become the worst timesoftrouble ever on this planet.

Please, please, please share this writing because we all on this earth need help in different ways.

Faith is preparing for life’s coming storms upon all humanity as written; therefore learning to live on faith through putting trust in only our creator when there is no other way for survival.

When two people are drawn together from different parts of the world while being have-nots with absolutely nothing material in their life, yet stay together regardless of their many hardships to be married and become as one. . .

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Our wedding in 2009

There is a purpose for all things through those chosen and called out of this world that all natural worldly minds cannot spiritually grasp. John 15:19 1 Corinthians 2:14

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It’s because through faith, there is a purpose for all things.

“We are assured and know that [YHVH being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love YHVH and are called according to [His] design and purpose. Romans 8:28 (AMPC) with God’s name restored.

Through faith, those called and chosen know that they cannot direct their own steps.

“O Lord [pleads Jeremiah in the name of the people], I know that [the determination of] the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man [even in a strong man or in a man at his best] to direct his [own] steps. Jeremiah 10:23

Through faith, those chosen continually look to the Father for making their path in this life straight according to His will, and never their own.

“In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. Proverbs 3:6

Through faith, we know to put no trust in humankind because Satan and his ministers scattered worldwide mislead while selling lies for tithes being un biblical.

“So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men (human philosophy), but in the power of YHVH. It is better to depend on Yehovah than to trust mortals. 1 Corinthians 2:5, Psalms 118:8

Through faith is knowing this entire world has been misled, deceived, snared, tricked, and beguiled leaving none, no, not one pleasing in the sight of YHVH.

“And the huge dragon was cast down and out—that age-old serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, he who is the seducer (deceiver) of all humanity the world over; he was forced out and down to the earth, and his angels were flung out along with him.

“The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understood, dealt wisely, and sought after God, inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him [of vital necessity]. They are all gone aside, they have all together become filthy; there is none that does good or right, no, not one. Revelation 12:9, Psalms 14:2-3

Is not scripture true when spiritually sought? Is not the near 7.5 billion living and thinking in worldly ways the children of men? Has not Satan deceived this entire world?

Therefore, through faith, these words of scripture become clearly understood, and taken very personally. . .

“If you belonged to the world, the world would treat you with affection and would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world [no longer one with it], but I have chosen (selected) you out of the world, the world hates (detests) you. John 15:19

Through faith is seen this entire human race in a division led by their own way which seems right and can be told nothing different from whatever their own human spirit leads; thus keeping them of this world, and despising any not like them while lacking the fruits of loving others as they love themselves.

“There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25

Through faith, we know that the church, being a building has absolutely nothing to do with the Greek word ekklesia which means a calling out, therefore it was wrongly translated leaving all church buildings worldwide as an illusion filled with mislead, and where Satan dwells.

Through faith, we know that the name of God and Jesus Christ are more manmade titles having nothing to do with whom they really are being Yehovah Elohim and Yeshua HaMashiach.

Through faith, we also know that through world division, pride, and all the ways which seem right to humans — very, very, few will agree with anything written or spoken differently from their own thoughts; and reason is because any not chosen and called out of this world through disassociation, know only their self.

1 Samuel 2:8

Think of what I share like this; what if your life for a decade never brought you any happiness even though you believed, prayed, endured, and waited for anything better than the life you had?

How would you feel through years and years experiencing this world of Christianity showing zero love with compassion for others in need when it a commandment?

What could possibly be any more clear than these following words of scripture Christians totally ignore?

“I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. John 13:34 (AMPC)

“The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.] John 14:21 (AMPC)

“Anyone who hates (abominates, detests) his brother [in Christ] is [at heart] a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding ([a]persevering) within him. By this we come to know (progressively to recognize, to perceive, to understand) the [essential] love: that He laid down His [own] life for us; and we ought to lay [our] lives down for [those who are our] brothers [[b]in Him]. But if anyone has this world’s goods (resources for sustaining life) and sees his brother and fellow believer in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him? Little children, let us not love [merely] in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth (in practice and in sincerity). 1 John 3:15-18

“Teacher, which [a]kind of commandment is great and important (the principal kind) in the Law? [Some commandments are light—which are heavy?] And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. These two commandments [b]sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22:36-40

“But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience). James 1:22-25

“Listen, my beloved brethren: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and in their position as believers and to inherit the kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him? If indeed you [really] fulfill the royal Law in accordance with the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as [you love] yourself, you do well. So speak and so act as [people should] who are to be judged under the law of liberty [the moral instruction given by Christ, especially about love]. For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment [will be] merciless, but mercy [full of glad confidence] exults victoriously over judgment. What is the use (profit), my brethren, for anyone to profess to have faith if he has no [good] works [to show for it]? Can [such] faith save [his soul]? If a brother or sister is poorly clad and lacks food for each day, And one of you says to him, Good-bye! Keep [yourself] warm and well fed, without giving him the necessities for the body, what good does that do? So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead). James 2:5, 8, 12-17

1 Samuel 2:8

The meaning of the verse just read has absolutely nothing to do with today’s worldly riches, but rather speaks of an earned position within His eternal government. Isaiah 9:6-7, Revelation 5:10, ect.

My wife and I have been without funds and have no food, so we pray as always and also ask Yehovah how much longer until we find just one genuine believer being as a doer of what you command rather than a hearer only, and continue our wait for our most simple needs.

The site below through compassionate crowdfunding at the time if this update [4/8/2017] gained 130 shares, yet no help that we really need. Why is that?

Because the god of this world only hates love, kindness, truth, compassion, empathy, and everything to do with righteousness; therefore being the misleading spirit of evil as the prince and power of the air, he injects selfishness and mislead into all minds which nullifies this world of Christianity from even knowing the creator they worship in words without deed, because Father Elohim [God] is love. Read again 1 John 3:17-18 while knowing there are many verses that accompany being a commandment. For any wanting deep spiritual truth, this read below offers much.

So our faith has become a decade of patience through knowing YHVH has been shaping and molding us for use in these end times according to His will; therefore through faith, no matter what life’s circumstance comes upon us — without choice we just accept our life as it is, and that is because those with faith through endurance and self-sacrifice of life’s basic needs, are those who which pleases our Father — therefore know their destiny.

Do you love our creator? How much? Enough to do be as sheep rather than the goats in Matthew 25:31-46? Ever wonder where and how the judgment will come upon all the goats worldwide?

Enough to be as sheep rather than the goats in Matthew 25:31-46? Ever wonder where and how the judgment will come upon all the goats worldwide?

https://dochub.com/timesoftrouble offers a good choice being many [over 240] individual reads on various subjects concerning the major mess America and our entire world civilization is truly in; and includes worldwide misled Christianity according to the Bible which has left billions not spiritually prepared for what is soon to become the worst timesoftrouble ever on this planet.

Have you been living a life based on faith as a have not while experiencing this world of false brethren living for themselves only through ignoring all scripture on loving others through deed? The near decade of not even proper meals, never a good home, and many health issues has been our preparation for the mission as one of the two witnesses being who this world of Christianity has zero knowledge of.

“And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it, and then, finally, the end will come. Matthew 24:14

So are you one of the 144,000? What have you ever done to please our Father YHVH that would make you worthy? Who is really first in your life? Who do you follow, obey, seek, and make sacrifices for? When any mind is natural rather then being spiritually led, they are already lost on the identity of those just read about.

In the 11th chapter of Revelation, two mysterious entities are introduced into the story of the end of this current age:

REVELATION 11:3 “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. (NKJV)

Who are these “two witnesses” that God will empower at the end of this age to carry His message to a world ruled by the Antichrist? Some believe that Elijah and Enoch, who were miraculously “taken away” by God (2 Kings 2:11; Gen. 5:24; Heb. 11:5), will return from heaven to prophesy for 3½ years. Others think that it will be Elijah (who stopped the rain in Israel for 3½ years – I Kings 17:1; Jam. 5:17) and Moses (who turned water to blood and brought plagues on Egypt – Exo. 7-12) who will antagonize the Beast during the 42 months of his reign. Some religious organizations believe that the two witnesses will be called from within the ranks of their ministry to perform this task. Another theory is that the Old Testament and the New Testament symbolically comprise these witnesses. But is there any way to really know who the two witnesses will be?

One vital key to understanding biblical prophecy is letting the Bible interpret itself. There are many clues to the identity of the two witnesses, but we have to recognize and accept them.

Let’s look at their apparel, which is one of the first clues we’re given about these two. They are dressed in sackcloth. What do the Scriptures tell us about the meaning of wearing sackcloth?

ISAIAH 22:12 And in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called for weeping and for mourning, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth. (NKJV)

JEREMIAH 6:26 O daughter of my people, dress in sackcloth and roll about in ashes! Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the plunderer will suddenly come upon us. (NKJV)

LAMENTATIONS 2:10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground and keep silence; they throw dust on their heads and gird themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground. (NKJV)

The Scriptures make it clear that the wearing of sackcloth is a sign of mourning. These two witnesses are clothed in sackcloth because they are officially in mourning. What they are mourning about will be shown later.

Now let’s look at the specific role these two fulfill as witnesses. A witness is a person who has seen or knows something, and is therefore capable of giving evidence about it. There are several scriptural passages that explain the role and function which witnesses fulfill:

DEUTERONOMY 17:6 “Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.” (NKJV)

DEUTERONOMY 19:15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.” (NKJV)

It is a clear principle in the Torah that the testimony of only one witness is not enough to convict a person of a capital crime. It takes a minimum of TWO witnesses to convict someone for the death penalty (or any other sin, for that matter). This same principle is repeated by both Yeshua and Paul in the New Testament:

MATTHEW 18:16 “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ ” (NKJV)

II CORINTHIANS 13:1 This will be the third time I am coming to you. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” (NKJV)

According to the Scriptures, there must be two witnesses to an act in order for the sentence of the Law to be carried out. Since those who accept the mark of the beast and worship him will “drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation” (Rev. 14:10), at least two witnesses to their sins will be necessary to convict and punish them.

Who are the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation 11? Let’s look elsewhere in the Bible to see if God identifies who His witnesses are and what they will testify about:

ISAIAH 43:1 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. . . .” 10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, nor will there be one after Me. 11 I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from Me there is no savior. 12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed — I, and not some foreign god among you. You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.” (NIV)

ISAIAH 44:1 But now hear, O Jacob My servant, Israel whom I have chosen! 2 Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you in the womb and will help you: Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour My spirit upon your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring. 4 They shall spring up like a green tamarisk, like willows by flowing streams. 5 This one will say, “I am the LORD’s,” another will be called by the name of Jacob, yet another will write on the hand, “The LORD’s,” and adopt the name of Israel. 6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides Me there is no god. 7 Who is like Me? Let them proclaim it, let them declare and set it forth before me. Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be. 8 Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides Me? There is no other rock; I know not one. (NRSV)

These prophetic passages from Isaiah plainly state that Israel will witness to the fact that there is no other God like YHVH the Father. This testimony will be a necessary confirmation of the identity of the one true God (John 17:3) during the time the Antichrist is reigning and proclaiming himself to be god (II The. 2:4). But how can Israel, the chosen people of God, be the TWO witnesses referred to in Revelation?

Christians who haven’t studied the Tanakh (Old Testament) in depth might be surprised to learn that Israel split into two parts after the reign of King Solomon. This split is recorded in I Kings 12 and II Chronicles 10. The division resulted in the southern kingdom of Judea (the “House of Judah“) and the northern kingdom of Samaria (the “House of Israel“) in the Holy Land.

The House of Judah was composed of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (I Kings 12:21; II Chr. 11:12). The tribe of Levi also eventually sided with the House of Judah, having been rejected as priests by the ruler of the House of Israel (II Chr. 11:13-14).

The 10 tribes (I Kings 11:31, 35) which composed the House of Israel were the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dan. These 10 northern tribes were led by the tribe of Ephraim, which was given the blessing of the firstborn by the patriarch Israel on his deathbed (Gen. 48:14-22).

Therefore, we see from the Scriptures that Israel did indeed become “two.” They can legitimately be recognized as two different, but related, entities. But is there any other biblical evidence which connects the two houses of Israel with the two witnesses of Revelation 11?

Indeed there is! Revelation 11:4 gives us the next two vital clues:

REVELATION 11:4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. (NKJV)

We see that the two witnesses are symbolically called “two olive trees” and also “two lampstands.” We’ll examine each of these symbols in turn and see what the Scriptures have to say about them.

First, let’s see what the Bible says about the “two olive trees.” Are these olive trees spoken of anywhere else in the Bible? Yes, they certainly are!

ZECHARIAH 4:1 Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. 3 Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” 4 So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” 6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ‘ ” 8 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands shall also finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the LORD, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.” 11 Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees — at the right of the lampstand and at its left?” 12 And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?” 13 Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” 14 So he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.” (NKJV)

In Zechariah 4 we see the same symbols that are used in Revelation 11 — olive trees and a lampstand. The two olive trees are said to be “the anointed ones” (literally “sons of the oil”) who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth” (Zec. 4:14). But maddeningly, the angel doesn’t give Zechariah (or us) a direct answer regarding the identity of these two trees. We must look in the book of Jeremiah to find the identification of the olive trees:

JEREMIAH 11:16 The LORD called your name, Green Olive Tree, lovely and of good fruit. With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, and its branches are broken. 17 For the LORD of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced doom against you for the evil of the House of Israel and of the House of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal.” (NKJV)

In Jeremiah 11 we see that both houses of Israel are called a “green olive tree.” They were planted and named by Yah the Father Himself. We can be certain from Scripture that both the House of Judah and the House of Israel are symbolically labeled as olive trees. But is there any further evidence? Yes there is!

HOSEA 14:5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall grow like the lily, and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. 6 His branches shall spread; his beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. (NKJV)

The prophet Hosea preached several decades before the fall of the House of Israel to the Assyrians (c. 722 BCE). Although he addresses both the House of Judah and the House of Israel in his prophecies, his primary message is directed at the House of Israel, also known as Ephraim.

To graphically illustrate the House of Israel’s rebellion against Him, YHVH commanded Hosea to take a harlot for a wife (Hos. 1:2). This harlot bore Hosea three children. God had Hosea name them symbolically to show how He was going to deal with the House of Israel. The children were named Jezreel (lit. “God sows”), Lo-Ruhamah (lit. “no mercy”), and Lo-Ammi (lit. “no people”).

All three of these names described God’s punishment on the House of Israel, as He explained to Hosea. Jezreel represented God’s sowing of the House of Israel among the Gentile nations of the earth after they were carried away into captivity by the Assyrians (Hos. 8:8; Zec. 10:7-10). Lo-Ruhamah denoted the fact that Yah would no longer have mercy upon the House of Israel, allowing them to be taken captive because of their sins (Hos. 1:6). Lo-Ammi pictured the gradual loss of national identity by the House of Israel. After they were conquered by Assyria, they lost the knowledge of who they were. Scattered throughout the Gentile nations of the world, the House of Israel forgot that they were part of the chosen people of YHVH (Hos. 1:9), and eventually came to view themselves as Gentiles.

With this background, we are now ready to look at the apostle Paul’s revelation on Israel the olive tree:

ROMANS 11:16 – For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature,[Easu the Edomite] and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; (NKJV)

Two olive trees are mentioned in this passage of Scripture from Paul: one that is cultivated, and one that is wild. Who or what do these two olive trees represent?

The cultivated olive tree depicts the House of Judah, which provided the foundation for the early church (Acts 2:41; 21:20). This is the olive tree of salvation, for Yeshua said that “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). Paul portrays those Jews who rejected Yeshua as branches which were broken off from the cultivated olive tree because they did not believe in the Messiah that YHVH sent to His people.

God told Hosea that He was going to cast the House of Israel away because of their sins (Hos. 1:6). However, He said that He would not cast away the House of Judah (Hos. 1:7), although later their sins were even worse than those of the House of Israel (Eze. 23:11). YHVH punished the House of Judah, but He never discarded them completely.

The House of Judah is God’s “lawgiver” (lit. “scribe” – Gen. 49:10; Psa. 60:7; 108:8; cf. Rom. 3:1-3). The Jews had, and continue to have, a major part in the plan YHVH is accomplishing. As a whole, only the House of Judah has continued to keep God’s Sabbaths, which are the sign between YHVH and His people (Exo. 31:13-17). Because of this, they alone have been recognized as God’s covenant people down to this day. However, the House of Israel lost their identity. They were absorbed into the nations wherein they were scattered. But God has never lost track of them (Amos 9:9).

This brings us to the wild olive tree Paul speaks of in this passage of Scripture. Many people equate the wild olive tree with Gentile believers who accept Yeshua as the Messiah. But is this really who Paul is referring to here? There is a telling phrase used by Paul in Romans 11:25 that exactly identifies who he is talking about:

ROMANS 11:25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; (NKJV)

Paul tells us that ALL of Israel, both the House of Judah and the House of Israel, has been blinded to the truth for a period of time. However, he says that wild olive branches will continue to be grafted in to the cultivated olive tree to replace those branches broken off until the fullness of the Gentiles has been added. Does the Bible tell us who this “fullness of the Gentiles” is? Yes, it most certainly does!

GENESIS 48:17 And Joseph saw that his father was putting his right hand on the head of Ephraim; and it was evil in his eyes. And he took hold of his father’s hand to turn it from Ephraim’s head to the head of Manasseh. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! For this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” 19 And his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall be a people, and he shall become great. But his younger brother shall become greater than he, and his seed shall become the fullness of the nations.” 20 And he blessed them in that day, saying, “In you shall Israel bless, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’ ” And he put Ephraim before Manasseh. (The Interlinear Bible)

On his deathbed, Israel blessed Ephraim when he adopted him and his brother Manasseh. Israel said that Ephraim’s offspring would become “the fullness of the nations.” In Hebrew, this phrase is melo hagoyim. Interestingly, this phrase can also be translated “the fullness of the Gentiles.” It was Ephraim (representative/leader of the lost 10 tribes of the House of Israel) that Paul had in mind when he spoke of the wild olive tree in Romans 11!

This conclusion is verified by Paul’s earlier statement about these “Gentiles” (Romans 9):

ROMANS 9:22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 25 As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.” (NKJV)

In this passage, Paul quotes from Hosea’s prophecy about the eventual recovery of those Israelites (Ephraim and the tribes associated with him) who were cast away by God because of their sins (Hos. 1:10). Either Paul was using this prophetic Scripture out of context and applying it to unrelated Gentiles, or the Gentiles he was speaking of were actually the offspring of the lost Israelite tribes.

Other Scriptures indicate that Paul understood that most of the Gentiles he was preaching to were in fact descendants of the 10 lost tribes who had been scattered 800 years earlier and had intermingled with all the nations round about Judea. To prove this assertion, let’s first look at a telling statement by Paul found in the 10th chapter of 1st Corinthians:

I CORINTHIANS 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. (NKJV)

Paul is writing here to a group of former pagan Gentiles (I Cor. 12:2) in Corinth, Greece. Yet in using the example of the Israelites who had been delivered from Egypt by God during the Exodus, he calls them “all OUR fathers” (I Cor. 10:1). He certainly wasn’t referring to them as “fathers” in a spiritual sense, because these people rebelled against God and died while wandering in the desert for 40 years. Therefore, Paul must have been speaking of them as the Corinthians’ PHYSICAL fathers!

The Israelite ancestry of those “Gentiles” was known to the apostle Paul, as his statement to King Agrippa also implies:

ACTS 26:6 “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. 7 To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.” (NKJV)

The final reunification of the two houses of Israel described in the Tanakh (Eze. 37:15-28; Isa. 11:12-13; etc.) had not been accomplished at the time Paul spoke. In fact, it still has not been fully accomplished. Therefore, the 12 tribes he referenced, who were “earnestly serving God night and day,” must have included so-called “Gentile” believers who were, in fact, offspring of the lost tribes of the House of Israel!

Paul wasn’t the only one who understood this truth. In the salutation of his epistle, James also shows that he knew specifically to whom he was writing when he addressed the body of believers, both Jews and “Gentiles”:

JAMES 1:1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. (NKJV)

What Paul revealed in his epistle to the Roman assembly was the same thing Yeshua spoke of in the 10th chapter of John’s Gospel:

JOHN 10:16 “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” (NKJV)

Here Yeshua tells his disciples that he had sheep which belonged to another flock. He was speaking of the ones to whom he was sent, the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Matt. 15:24). These sheep had lost their identity and thought that they were Gentiles. But Yeshua knew who (and where) they were, and it was his divinely sanctioned job to retrieve them for the Father.

Gentiles not of Israelite descent have certainly been included in God’s congregation through the centuries(Exo. 12:38; Isa. 56:3-8). Yah has always made a way for godly foreigners to become part of His chosen people. But Scripture indicates that those who have been called by God to His Son (John 6:44, 65) are primarily physical Israelites, both from the House of Judah (the cultivated olive tree) and the House of Israel (the wild olive tree). These two olive trees are the two witnesses of Revelation 11.

The meaning of the “lampstand” symbolism used in Revelations 11:4 is further confirmation of this identity. We only have to go back to the 1st chapter of Revelation to see what “lampstands” represent:

REVELATION 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. . . . 20 “The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.” (NKJV)

The lampstands here depict seven ekklesiai, the seven Asian churches listed in Revelation 1:11. The Greek noun ekklesia literally means “an assembly of called out ones.” We can see that in the book of Revelation, a lampstand represents a called out group of people. The symbolism fits perfectly with the House of Judah and the House of Israel, who were at first called out of Egypt together to be God’s people. At the end of this age, they will be called out once more to witness against the people of this earth when they forsake YHVH and worship the Antichrist.

The scriptural evidence is overwhelming that the two witnesses, who are symbolically called two olive trees and two lampstands, are in fact the House of Judah and the House of Israel. With this understanding, we can now clearly see the calling and sealing of these servants of God as it is described in Revelation 7:

REVELATION 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed. (ESV)

The 144,000 sealed from the tribes of Israel have long been a mystery. But now the purpose and mission of these witnesses can be understood. These 144,000 servants will form the two witnesses YHVH uses in the end-time to show the world that He is the one true God. These witnesses can be divided into two groups:

The House of Judah

The tribe of Judah

The tribe of Benjamin

The tribe of Levi

The House of Israel

The tribe of Joseph

The tribe of Manasseh

The tribe of Reuben

The tribe of Gad

The tribe of Asher

The tribe of Naphtali

The tribe of Simeon

The tribe of Issachar

The tribe of Zebulun

The tribe of Joseph has a double portion among the tribes (with Manasseh replacing the missing tribe of Dan), as his father Israel promised (Gen. 48:22). Why is the tribe of Dan omitted from the twelve tribes sealed in Revelation 7?

In Genesis 49, Israel gives deathbed prophecies to all his sons regarding their fate in the “last days” (Gen. 49:1). The prophecy for the tribe of Dan explains the reason why he is not included as part of the two witnesses:

GENESIS 49:16 “Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.” (NKJV)

Since one cannot be both a witness and a judge in a matter, the tribe of Dan was chosen by God to be the judge in this end-time situation. He is prophesied to be the judge of those among the offspring of Israel that forsake the true God and follow the beast (Antichrist). However, the nature of Dan’s judgment is not detailed.

The prophet Joel speaks of the sanctifying of the servants of God in the end times:

JOEL 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls.” (NKJV)

Peter used this very passage of Scripture to explain the miracle which occurred on Pentecost in Acts 2. But there remains an ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy which will occur during the unfolding of the events recorded in Revelation (compare Joel 2:30-31 with Rev. 6:12, 8:12).

The future sealing of the 144,000 will most likely occur on an upcoming Shavu’ot (also known as “Pentecost”). The Jews associate trumpets with three of God’s commanded Feast Days:

The “First Trumpet” is sounded on Shavu’ot.

The “Last Trumpet” is sounded on Yom Teruah (also called Rosh Hashanah and the “Feast of Trumpets”).

The “Great Trumpet” is sounded on Yom Kippur (also known as the “Day of Atonement”).

When will the “first trumpet” of Revelation be sounded? At the time shown in Revelation 8:7, which chronologically is a very short time after the 144,000 are sealed in Revelation 7:4-8. The Spirit of God fell upon the 120 (Acts 1:15) after “the day of Pentecost had fully come” (Acts 2:1). In like manner, the first trumpet of Revelation will be blown after the 144,000 (120 x 12 x 100) have been sealed, when this future Pentecost has “fully come.”

Now let’s look more closely at what these “two witnesses” will be doing during their 1,260 days of testimony (Rev. 11:3). We are given two glimpses into their future activities by events that occurred during the ministry of Messiah Yeshua nearly 2,000 years ago:

LUKE 9:1 Then he called his twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 And he said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” (NKJV)

The commission to the 12 disciples to go out and preach the kingdom of God to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 10:6) was the first antetype of the sending out of the 144,000 at the end of the age. Yeshua’s instructions and warnings regarding what the disciples were to expect during their mission is found in Matthew’s parallel account of this event:

MATTHEW 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. 18 You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. 21 Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! 26 Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” (NKJV)

Yeshua told the original 12 disciples what would happen to them during their preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God. Yet his words also apply to what the 144,000 should expect as they go out into the world to preach the age-ending coming of the kingdom.

Yeshua’s comment that “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22) is evidence that these words also pertain to the witnesses at the end of the age. This same statement was repeated by Yeshua just before his crucifixion. In response to the question his disciples posed regarding “the sign of his coming and of the end of the age” (Matt. 24:3), Yeshua said:

MATTHEW 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (NKJV)

Clearly the Messiah was not speaking solely to the 12 disciples here. They did not take the gospel of the kingdom into all nations as a witness, and the end of the age and his return did not come during their days. Therefore, we know that these words were also intended for a later group of witnesses.

Luke’s account shows that a second antetypical group was sent forth after the original 12, with similar instructions:

LUKE 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ ” (ESV)

The “72” disciples mentioned in Luke 10:1 above is said to be “70” in some other ancient manuscripts. The reason for this discrepancy is unknown, but the difference is not confined to specific manuscript groupings. Both Alexandrian and Western Greek manuscripts have examples of “72,” as do some Syriac manuscripts. In The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text, I. Howard Marshall states that manuscript “evidence in favour of 72 is the stronger” (p. 415).

Just as the number “12” is linked to “144,000” (12 x 12,000 = 144,000), the number “72” is also related to the number “144,000” in an interesting way:

72 x 2,000 = 144,000

About 2,000 years ago, Yeshua dispatched the 72 disciples “two by two” on their mission to prepare for the first harvest by preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Soon, the 144,000 from the two houses of Israel will once again be sent out “two by two.” Each pair of these witnesses will travel throughout the cities of the world to proclaim that the kingdom of God is coming soon in its fullness.

LUKE 10:17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (ESV)

The 72 disciples were given power over the demons in the days of Yeshua’s ministry. In like manner, the 144,000 will also have such authority over “serpents and scorpions,” the demonic horde released from the Abyss (Rev. 9:1-11).

Now let’s look at the fate of these two (144,000) witnesses, as revealed by John’s vision:

REVELATION 11:7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the Abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (NASU)

After the witnesses have finished their testimony before all the nations, YHVH will allow the Antichrist who had previously come up out of the Abyss (Rev. 9:11) to make war against them and kill them. For additional information on this Beast and his activities in the end-time, see my article “Who Is The ‘Destroyer’?”

For many people (formerly including myself), the end of verse 8 clearly establishes Jerusalem as the place where the witnesses will die. It’s commonly understood that Yeshua was crucified in Jerusalem. However, John’s very next use of the phrase “the GREAT CITY” in Revelation 14:8 shows that this is a reference to Babylon the Great, not the earthly Jerusalem.

The “great city” of Revelation 11:8 where our Lord was crucified is Satan’s Babylonian system. Babylon the Great is called a CITY because it is patterned after the original city of Babel (Gen. 11:1-5). This Babel (i.e., Babylon) was the first successful attempt at GLOBAL government on the earth. Virtually all of mankind was gathered together in this one city under the rule of Nimrod, the original type of the Antichrist. The famous Tower in the original city of Babel evidenced the rebellion of mankind against God; this rebellion will be replicated at the end of the age.

The Babel system of Satan is prophesied to rise up and rule over God’s people seven times before it is finally destroyed at the end of this age by the coming of the Messiah. At the time John saw his vision of that system (Rev. 17:1-11), five of the Babel-patterned kingdoms had already arisen and fallen. These five were: (1) Egypt, (2) Assyria, (3) Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, (4) Medo-Persia, and (5) Greece. The one that was then “alive” was (6) Rome. Then comes the final one, (7) the end-time Babylon the Great, which in John’s day was still far in the future.

When John spoke of the “great city” where the Lord was crucified, he was speaking of Satan’s Babylonian system “Beast,” NOT the physical city of Jerusalem. Rome was part of that Beast, the 6th incarnation of the “great city Babel” that existed in John’s day. It was within the Roman Empire that Messiah Yeshua was crucified. Indeed, without the Roman involvement, Messiah would NOT have been crucified, since crucifixion was a uniquely Roman form of capital punishment.

The phrase “make war against them” implies that action against the two witnesses is much more involved than just having two men killed. The Greek word used for “witnesses” in this passage is martusin; the English word “martyr” is derived from the singular form of this Greek word. At the end of their testimony, all 144,000 witnesses will be martyred for God:

REVELATION 11:9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. (NKJV)

Such will be the hatred of the Antichrist-worshiping masses for these 144,000 witnesses that their bodies will be left to rot in the streets of cities all over the world after they are beheaded by the forces of the Beast. The world will be so glad to see these two groups of witnesses slain that they will declare a global holiday and rejoice over their deaths. But their defeat is not the end of the story:

REVELATION 11:11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. (NKJV)

Three-and-a-half days after the Beast is allowed to slay the witnesses of the House of Judah and the House of Israel (a day for every year they prophesied in the cities of the world), Yeshua the Messiah is going to raise them from the dead in the sight of all their enemies. This event will cause the Antichrist to lose a 10th of his kingdom and bring to a close the 6th trumpet (also called “the 2nd woe”-Rev. 11:14), setting the stage for the end of the age at the 7th trumpet (Rev. 11:15-18).

After the Messiah establishes his kingdom and begins to rule from Jerusalem, these witnesses shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years (Rev. 20:4-6). This is the reward of those from the House of Judah and the House of Israel who are called to be the witnesses of YHVH at the end of the age. Amen!

All that I do is live day to day with my wife as my best and only friend; and we have had a hard time for 10 years now with this world of Christianity showing extremely cold and selfish hearts — and now 3/17/2017 — we don’t even have any more rice. The cost is $40 per 50 kilo sack — and because rice is nice when it is the only main food, any help would be a blessing.

https://dochub.com/timesoftrouble offers a good choice being many individual reads on various subjects concerning the major mess America and our entire world civilization is truly in; and includes worldwide misled Christianity according to the Bible which has left billions not spiritually prepared for what is soon to become the worst timesoftrouble ever on this planet.

Timesoftrouble says: The greatest sadness upon this planet regarding our entire human race comes only to those with spiritual understanding being that the worst timesoftrouble which has ever before been is coming upon all humanity through the fall of this world’s once greatest superpower bringing major wars with use of chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons that cannot be changed; therefore when vision of reality strikes chosen minds nonstop, all that we can see is world chaos so disturbing that there is really no way to describe the calamity coming upon our entire human race leaving but few with Yehovah’s mercy for safety. Want some extreme detail according to scripture?

For a start according to scripture, view America as a crumbling society about to fall into martial law. Then picture violence from every direction in every possible way through hunger, killing, looting, complete loss of power and all electronics nationwide leaving no sewage system that will be the start of spreading the disease cholera, no water, no transportation, no medical, no refrigeration, no computers, and not even any way of defense as the United States Military becomes totally useless through its Achilles Heel being total computer dependency for everything has been taken away and destroyed via an EMP delivered by Putin; [seek link at end] and when many biblical truths have been added: all that remains is this world of spiritual darkness through the deception the father of lies holds over all the misled Christians worldwide which cannot even see the only true light, or walk their commanded walk as doers rather than hearers deceiving themselves – therefore completely unprepared for what is coming upon us all — but will awake to see their own end en route when ISIS, Russia, Germany, Iran, and all UN prepared armies come only for the final destruction of the USA (Ezekiel 5, Habakkuk 1, Zephaniah 1 and 2, etc.) which has been made so very clear in prophecy that Christians in America cannot even see their own grim future destiny with YHVH not even hearing prayers; (Lamentations 3:8, 43-44) and know every word I speak is 100% backed with scripture none, no, not one within a deceived world have ever been taught in fullness because there is no rapture as billions have been wrongly led to believe, just as there is no eternal torture chamber known as hell fires – and the same holds true for so many subjects that only those seeking truth from not of this world can gain spiritual understanding directly from Yehovah through the elimination of all human religions, beliefs, and all worldly ways that have always been the cause of division.

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For nearly 2,000 years, there has been much discussion and speculation about the Antichrist. Through the centuries, this entity (mentioned by John, Paul, Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and other biblical writers) has been identified as numerous individuals or as various governmental and/or religious systems. Does God’s word tell us enough about the Antichrist to accurately determine who or what it will be? This study will examine the Bible to see if a specific identification is supported by the Scriptures.

Let’s start with the epistles of John, the only place in the Bible where the term “Antichrist” is actually used:

1 John 2:18 (KJV)

The first occurrence in the Bible of the term “Antichrist” is in I John 2:18, where the Greek word antichristos (a nominative masculine singular noun) is used. The definite article ho before antichristos indicates grammatically that John is speaking about a specific, singular entity: The Antichrist. John is talking about ONE particular individual who will be anti Christ. The Greek preposition anti literally means “instead of” (cf. Matt. 2:22; Luke 11:11; James 4:15). This individual will be “instead of” Christ, NOT one who falsely proclaims to be the returned Christ.

In verse 18, John makes a statement regarding the coming Antichrist (the title of a single masculine entity who will be a substitute for Christ). He says that those he was writing to had previously heard that the Antichrist would come at the time of the end. Then, to demonstrate the lateness of the hour, John contrasts the future appearance of the Antichrist with those numerous “antichrists” who had already appeared. These “antichrists,” he states, had gone out from among congregations of believers because they truly never had been a part of them. Since John identifies the “antichrists” of his day as personal entities (as opposed to “systems” or “governments”), the parallel future Antichrist must also be a personal entity, not an impersonal governmental/religious system.

I JOHN 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the Liar [ho pseustes] but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist [ho antichristos], the one who denies the Father and the Son. (NASU)

Verses 20 and 21 contrast the “antichrists” who went out from among them with the true believers who knew the truth and had God’s Spirit (the “anointing from the Holy One,” cf. Isa. 61:1;Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38). Verse 22 has generally been misunderstood to be referring only to those plural “antichrists” John had referenced in the latter part of verse 18. However, the Greek text indicates that John is saying that all those who deny the fleshly coming of Yeshua are types of the future Antichrist. These “antichrists” are like the future “Liar” who will deny that Yeshua is the Messiah. In fact, John tells us that the Antichrist will deny both the Father and the Son.

We can see from this passage that the Antichrist will do something specific: he will deny that Yeshua is the Messiah. Later on in his letter, John lists a second identifying characteristic of the Antichrist:

I JOHN 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist [tou antichristou], which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. (NKJV)

John tells his readers that those who confessed that Yeshua the Messiah had come in the flesh did so by the Spirit of God, while those that did not confess that Yeshua the Messiah had come in the flesh were not of God but had another “spirit” influencing them. Here John gives us a another test for identifying the Antichrist and those who are aligned with him spiritually.

Therefore, we have two identifying characteristics given by John for identifying the Antichrist and those lesser “antichrists” like him:

(1) Denial of Yeshua as the Messiah, and

(2) Denial that Yeshua came in the flesh.

To be scripturally identified as “antichrist,” a person or organization must meet BOTH criteria.

Additionally, John reemphasizes the fact that the saints he was writing to had previously heard that The Antichrist was coming. His point again is that even though the Antichrist had not yet arrived, the blasphemy he would promote was already in the world. John directly equates the false teaching that the divine Son of God had NOT come in the flesh with the future Antichrist.

In his second epistle, John again compares those who were teaching that Yeshua had not come in the flesh with the future deceiver, the Antichrist:

II JOHN 7 For many deceivers [planoi] have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the Deceiver [ho planos] and the Antichrist [ho antichristos]. (NASU)

How could John state that those deceivers (plural) who had gone out into the world were THE DECEIVER and THE ANTICHRIST (both singular)? Because the denial of the fleshly existence of Yeshua (which those led by the “antichrist” spirit in his day proclaimed) will be the primary identifying doctrine of the future Antichrist. Again, John confirms the current deceivers as types of the coming Antichrist.

Twice in his writings, John mentions that the believers he was addressing had heard that the Antichrist was coming (I John 2:18; 4:3). James Hastings wrote: “St. John . . . alludes to a popular belief, and spiritualizes it, applying it to tendencies already at work” (p. 226, vol. 3, A Dictionary of the Bible, “Man of Sin and Antichrist”). Was this belief in a coming Antichrist a secret teaching among early Christians that wasn’t put down in writing, or is it recorded elsewhere in the Scriptures?

John could have been referring to several passages of Scripture. However, the most likely prospect for this reference is Paul’s exposition on the “Man of Sin” found in his second letter to the Thessalonians:

II THESSALONIANS 2:1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away [he apostasia] comes first, andthe Man of Sin [ho anthropos tes hamartias] is revealed, the Son of Perdition [ho huios tes apoleias], 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the Temple of God [ton naon tou theou], showing [apodeiknunta] himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the Lawless One [ho anomos] will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. 9 The coming of the Lawless One is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (NKJV)

Regarding the Antichrist as described by Paul in this passage of Scripture, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states: “2 Thessalonians, written early, affords evidence of a considerably developed doctrine being commonly accepted among believers” (p. 139, vol. 1, “Antichrist”). Here Paul addresses the return of Yeshua from heaven to gather the saints to him (v. 1). To dispel concerns the Thessalonians had about missing this event, Paul clearly outlines what must happen before the Messiah will return. In verse 3, he indicates that two primary things will take place immediately before “the day of Christ”:

(1) The Apostasy, and

(2) The revealing of the “Man of Sin.”

According to Friberg’s Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament (ALGNT), the word apostasia literally means “a condition resulting from changing loyalties revolt, desertion” (cf. Acts 21:21). Paul said that there would be a widespread desertion of the faith by those who claimed to be believers just before the return of Christ.

He follows up by stating that this falling away will immediately precede or be accompanied by the revealing of “the Man of Sin,” also called “the Son of Perdition” (v. 3) and “the Lawless One” (v 8). The Man of Sin is portrayed by Paul in this passage as a personal entity, not a government or organization. This one is widely equated with the Antichrist spoken of by John, as well as “the Beast” mentioned in the book of Revelation (Rev. 11:7; 13:1-6; 19:19-20).

Paul tells us that the Man of Sin will “oppose and exalt himself above ALL that is called God or that is worshiped” (v. 4). This would include not only the one true God, but all other “gods and lords” (cf. 1 Cor. 8:5) as well. These “gods and lords” are the gods(Heb. ‘elohim) of the nations (Deu. 6:14; 31:16; Jdg. 2:11-13; II Kings 18:33-35; Zep. 2:11), the ruling angels of the heavenly divine council.

Paul then tells us that the Man of Sin will “sit as God in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” The Greek verb apodeiknunta (“showing”) literally means “to demonstrate, prove or proclaim” something. Paul says that the reason the Man of Sin does this is to prove that he is a god.

To understand why this act would demonstrate to the Man of Sin that he is greater than all other divine beings, we must determine what Paul meant by the Man of Sin sitting in the Temple of God. How should we understand this statement? Is it figurative or literal?

If Paul intended it to be figurative, what would the Temple of God represent? In another of his letters, Paul speaks of the body of a believer being the Temple of God because the Holy Spirit dwells within it (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 1 Cor. 6:19). Similar references in the Gospels refer to an individual (cf. Matt. 26:61; 27:40; Mark 14:58; 15:29; John 2:19-21). However, the church as a whole is called the Temple of God (2 Cor. 6:16), and also the House of God (1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 4:17) in the New Testament. Figuratively interpreting Paul’s statement to mean that the Man of Sin will dwell within the ranks of believers (within “the church”) is how some scholars have understood this passage. However, other related Scriptures (which we will examine later) show that this meaning is unlikely.

A literal understanding of this verse gives us two possible interpretations. Paul could have been speaking of a rebuilt physical temple in Jerusalem that would exist at the end of the age. Most Christians who believe in a literal end-time Antichrist think that he will take his seat within a reconstructed Jewish temple on the Temple Mount.

However, one other literal possibility exists. Paul could also have been speaking of the heavenly Temple of God (Heb. 8:2; Rev. 11:19). The Scriptures tell us that the earthly tabernacle constructed by Moses was patterned after this heavenly original, as were the later temples in Jerusalem:

EXODUS 25:8 “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.” (NKJV)

HEBREWS 8:1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this one also have something to offer. 4 For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the Law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” (NKJV)

HEBREWS 9:11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. (NKJV)

REVELATION 11:19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail. (NKJV)

The idea that the Temple being spoken of in II Thessalonians is the heavenly Temple is not as far out as it initially appears. In his autobiography, Teddy Kolleck, former mayor of Jerusalem, gives us an interesting reference to the heavenly Temple:

I receive about twenty or thirty letters a year, mainly from Fundamentalist Christians of various churches, urging us to build the Temple, because they regard this as a prerequisite for the return of Christ. At press conferences I am often asked whether we plan to rebuild the Temple. I usually reply that according to Jewish tradition, the Temple already exists and will come down from heaven to its proper place when Messiah comes . . . (p. 230, For Jerusalem)

If Paul is referring to the heavenly Temple of God in II Thessalonians 2:4, then the Man of Sin would have to be capable of traveling to where this Temple resides in the “Jerusalem above” (Gal. 4:26). This ultimately implies that the Antichrist will be an angelic being of some sort (cf. Job 1:6-7; 2:1-2).

Not coincidentally, the Bible shows that during the events at the end of this age, a powerful angelic king will be released from a spiritual prison called the Abyss:

REVELATION 9:1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. . . . 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. (NIV)

This evil spirit being, symbolically named “Destroyer” in both Hebrew and Greek, will be the leader of the end-time rebellion against God and the heavenly forces of good. For more detailed information on this angelic king, see my article “Who is the ‘Destroyer’?”

Many (probably most) Christians regard even the consideration of the possibility that the heavenly Temple could be conquered by the Antichrist as foolishness which borders on blasphemy. However, several passages of Scripture support this particular understanding of Paul’s statement. The first we will examine is from the book of Daniel:

DANIEL 8:9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. 10 And it grew up [tigdal] to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. (NKJV)

If we take this prophecy literally, we see that the “little horn” (another title for the Antichrist) will “become powerful” (Heb. tigdal) enough to challenge the “host of heaven.” We know from several Scriptures that the “host of heaven” is often a reference to angels(cf. I Kings 22:19; II Chr. 18:18; Neh. 9:6). “Stars” are also used figuratively of angels (Job 38:7; Isa. 14:13; Rev. 1:20; 9:1; 12:4) in the Bible.

Daniel’s vision goes on to reveal even more information that indicates the heavenly Temple is the target of the Antichrist:

DANIEL 8:11 It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host [sar hatzava’]; and it removed the regular sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was thrown down. 12 And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?” 14 He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored.” (NASU)

Here we see that the Antichrist exalts himself as high as the “Commander of the Host” (Heb. sar hatzava’). Later in this chapter, when the angel Gabriel explains this vision to Daniel, this same one is called the “Prince of princes” (Heb. sar sarim, v. 25). Clearly both these references are to Yeshua the Messiah, the one who earlier had revealed himself to Joshua (Jos. 5:13-15) as the “Commander of the Host of the LORD” (Heb. sar tzeva’ YHVH). For additional information on the preincarnate activities of Yeshua, see my article “Christ in the Old Testament.”

We know that since his resurrection and ascension, the place of Yeshua’s sanctuary is the heavenly Temple of God, where he sits at the right hand of the Eternal Father (Psa. 110:1, 5; Matt. 26:64; Mark 16:19; Acts 5:31; 7: 55-56; Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; I Pet. 3:22), acting as our High Priest (Heb. 2:17; 3:1; 4:14-15; 5:5, 10; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1, 3; 9:11; 10:21). Daniel’s vision shows that the Antichrist will stop the regular sacrifice in the heavenly Temple and throw down the “place” of Yeshua’s sanctuary (the heavenly Jerusalem).

If this vision given to Daniel truly pertains to the heavenly Jerusalem and the Temple of God there, then what are the “daily sacrifices” that the Antichrist will remove? The New Testament gives us the answer to this question in several places:

I PETER 2:5 You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NIV)

HEBREWS 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. (NASU)

REVELATION 5:8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints; (RSV)

REVELATION 8:3 Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. (NRSV)

The New Testament shows that sacrifices remain for Christians. These are spiritual sacrifices, which include praise and the prayers of God’s people to the heavenly Father. It is these sacrifices that the Antichrist will stop, instead of literal, physical sacrifices.

We aren’t told precisely how the Antichrist will stop these sacrifices. However, we are told that the sacrifices will be stopped for a period of “2,300 mornings and evenings.” The reason “mornings and evenings” are specified is because God commanded two sacrifices each day in the temple: one in the morning and one in the evening (Exo. 29:38-42; II Chr. 13:11). Since all things on earth were patterned after the heavenly Temple, it stands to reason that the pattern of sacrifices is consistent also.

The Antichrist will stop 2,300 total sacrifices. However, since there are two sacrifices performed daily, the span of time being referred to here is actually 1,150 days. It is very likely that this period of time will be contained within the 42 months (1,260 days) that the Beast will be given authority to rule the earth (Rev. 13:5).

Interpreting the symbols used in Daniel’s vision consistently with other Scriptures confirms that the Temple of God in heaven is the target of the Antichrist. Therefore, it would be this Temple that Paul referred to in II Thessalonians.

One other prophetic passage of Scripture from the book of Ezekiel indicates it will be the heavenly temple which will be defiled:

EZEKIEL 7:22 I will turn my face away from them, and they will desecrate my treasured place [tzepuni] ; robbers will enter it and desecrate it. (NIV)

This verse is located within a passage of prophecy which speaks of events that occur during the time of the end, at “the day of the wrath of the LORD” (Eze. 7:19). The Hebrew word tzepuni is a form of the root word tzapan, which means “hide, treasure, store up.” It is possible that tzepuni is related to the Hebrew tzapon, which literally means “north.”

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament has this to say about tzapon:

In Canaanite mythology the north was considered to be the place for the meeting of the assembly of the gods. The gods assembled on Mount Tzapan; tzapan may be taken as a proper name. . . . This concept of the divine assembly on Mount Tzapan is alluded to in Isaiah’s oracle against Babylon in which he pictures the proud king saying, “I shall sit on the mount of assembly in the far north” (Isa 14:13). The king asserts for himself both universal and divine lordship. Such arrogance was soon to encounter the fury of God’s wrath.

The fact that Psalms 48:2 [H 3] places Mt. Zion figuratively in the far north means that God is the sole ruler of the universe. He alone is to be reverenced and praised. . . . (p. 774, vol. II)

It is possible that Ezekiel 7:22 speaks of the end-time defilement of God’s treasured place, the Temple in heaven. This understanding helps clear up an obscure passage from the book of Revelation:

REVELATION 11:1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.” (NKJV)

Many have understood this prophecy to be speaking of the earthly Jerusalem, the holy city. But at the time of the end, when this prophecy takes place, what if there is no temple in the earthly Jerusalem? Could the holy city containing the Temple of God mentioned in this prophecy be speaking of the heavenly Jerusalem? When all the prophecies that mention the time of the end are considered, it seems likely that this is the case.

However, other prophecies, including one from Yeshua himself (Matt. 24:15-20; Mark 13:14-18; Luke 21:20-24), indicate that the earthly Jerusalem will be besieged at the same time that the heavenly Jerusalem is being attacked. As the Antichrist directs the combined angelic armies of the ‘elohim who rule over the earth against the heavenly Jerusalem, physical armies will surround and desolate the earthly Jerusalem. This fact again illustrates the irrefutable link between the physical and the spiritual and the dual nature of biblical prophecy.

This link can be explicitly seen in the 10th chapter of the book of Daniel. In this chapter, we see revealed a spiritual battle between one of God’s holy angels (probably Gabriel) and the “prince of the kingdom of Persia” (Dan. 10:13). This angelic prince, who did not want Daniel to receive the information being brought to him from heaven, resisted God’s will and fought with His messenger for 21 days.

It’s interesting to note that the holy angel told Daniel that he would have to contend with the angelic “prince of Greece” after his battle with the “prince of Persia” (Dan. 10:20). In history, we know that the earthly Greek empire defeated the Persian empire and replaced it as the preeminent power on earth. The words of the holy angel show that this shift in power would also take place in the spiritual realm, with the angelic prince of Greece afterward becoming the primary foe of God’s will.

Chapter 13 of the book of Revelation tells us of the rise and end-time activities of “the Beast.” We see that the heavenly Temple and those angels who dwell in heaven are the particular focus of the Beast:

REVELATION 13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” 5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. (NKJV)

Notice that one of the dominant characteristics of the Beast is his mouth, which speaks pompous words and great blasphemies (Rev. 13:5-6). This same characteristic is detailed in Daniel’s prophecy regarding the Antichrist (Dan. 7:8). We see that two targets of the Beast’s blasphemy are the heavenly tabernacle and those who dwell in heaven. Not coincidentally, these are two of the things the Antichrist seeks to conquer to prove his worthiness (cf. II The. 2:4).

The prophet Daniel gives us information about the Antichrist, which he sees as a “little horn”:

DANIEL 7:8 I was considering the [ten] horns [on the fourth beast], and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. (NKJV)

Daniel didn’t understand this vision, so he requested an explanation from an angel he saw in his dream:

DANIEL 7:19 “Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; 20 and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. 21 I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. 23 Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings. 25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.’ ” (NKJV)

We see that this “little horn” which arises will be a “different” type of king than the three he subdues. That’s because they will be human kings, while he is an angelic king (Rev. 9:11). Once again, we see that the time period of his reign is specified to be 3 ½ years (“a time and times and half a time”).

As we saw earlier in Paul’s second epistle to the Thessalonians, the end of the Antichrist will take place at the time of the Lord Yeshua’s return from heaven:

II THESSALONIANS 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming. (RSV)

This passage doesn’t give us the details of the Antichrist’s final defeat. However, we know from Psalm 82 that those fallen ‘elohim who have rebelled against God will die, just as mortals die:

PSALM 82:6 “I said, ‘You are “gods” [‘elohim]; you are all sons of the Most High.’ 7 But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.” (NIV)

Several prophecies show us what will ultimately become of the angelic king of the Abyss. One of those prophecies is found in the prophetic book of Ezekiel:

EZEKIEL 28:1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you say, ‘I am a god [‘el], I sit in the seat of gods [‘elohim], in the midst of the seas,’ yet you are a man, and not a god [‘el], though you set your heart as the heart of a god [‘elohim] 3 (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you! 4 With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself, and gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; 5 by your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches),” 6 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god[‘elohim], 7 behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, the most terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and defile your splendor. 8 They shall throw you down into the Pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the midst of the seas. 9 Will you still say before him who slays you, ‘I am a god [‘elohim]’? But you shall be a man, and not a god [‘el], in the hand of him who slays you. 10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of aliens; for I have spoken,” says the Lord GOD.’ ” (NKJV)

Here we see that the Antichrist is called the “Prince of Tyre.” His spiritual father, Satan, is addressed as the “King of Tyre” in the related prophecy which immediately follows (Eze. 28:11-19). These prophecies could be directed to men of Ezekiel’s time who were types of the Antichrist and Satan (since many prophecies are dual in nature), or they could be symbolically referring to the Antichrist and Satan.

In this passage, we see that the Antichrist is called “a man” twice (vv. 2, 9). Many use this language to claim that the Antichrist cannot be an angelic being. However, it’s possible that this prophecy speaks of a human prince of Tyre who was a type of the end-time Antichrist. Regardless, at times the Tanakh refers to angelic beings as men or as having the appearance of men (cf. Gen. 32:24; Dan. 9:21; 10:18; Eze. 1:5). Therefore, this usage does not automatically annul our previous identification of the Antichrist as an angelic being.

We are told that this “Prince of Tyre” reckons himself to be a god, and that he “sits in the seat of gods, in the midst of the seas” (v. 2). In the Scripture, the seas represent the nations of the world (cf. Num. 24:7; II Sam. 22:17; Psa. 18:16; Rev. 17:1). We know from this that the “Prince of Tyre” will be over the nations.

We also know that he will die an ignoble death (cf. Psa. 82:7). This event is described in more detail in the book of Revelation:

REVELATION 19:20 Then the Beast was captured, and with him the False Prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.(NKJV)

Certainly a humiliating end for a being who thought he was above all other gods.

CONCLUSION

The “man of sin” spoken of in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians will not be a man. Instead, he will be an angelic king named Abaddon/Apollyon. He is “the beast” who will ascend out of the Abyss at the sounding of the fifth trumpet (Rev. 9:1-11). Abaddon and his army of spirit beings will conquer the holy sanctuary in heaven and gain victory over the angelic hosts of heaven. However, his power to rule will only last for 3½ years. After this time period, God will take away his authority. Abaddon will muster the forces of evil for one final attempt to destroy God’s people and His plan, but he will be thwarted. He will be cast into the lake of fire as Yeshua the Messiah establishes the millennial Kingdom of God on earth.

The source http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=All&id=75 for what you have just read regarding the antichrist with much more vital truth through many other revealed subjects has been given to me by God Almighty as my best gain for spiritual knowledge in almost 30 years of private studies; therefore supplying what all Christians need to know, but do not because absolute full truth has never been taught in the religions of man anywhere on this earth, or is Revelation 12:9 just a lie with the Christian walk in Colossians 3, James 1:22-25 and 2:14-17 being not important?

When a person has been called out of this world almost ten years ago by our creator — there has been a purpose which seems as foolishness to all worldly minds as written in 1 Corinthians 2:14, and my direction through YHVH’s will has been a decade of becoming totally disassociated with all worldly ways and beliefs while learning to accept whatever way of life YHVH has chosen, living on faith, and looking only towards Yehovah always to direct my path in this life as instructed in Proverbs 3:6; thus, even though few will hear His true message as a warning being delivered in these end times as the New World Order comes into rule, just as Ezekiel, being not one of them, was hated (John 15:17-21) by this world of religious scorpions – he did as spiritually led.

In the two links below being wordpress and dochub, more is always added for spiritual understanding of what is coming upon our over 7.4 billion civilization during these end times, and why these things must be for any seeking truth through dedicated study with obedience.

https://dochub.com/timesoftrouble offers a good choice being many individual reads on various subjects concerning the major mess America and our entire world civilization is truly in; and includes worldwide misled Christianity according to the Bible which has left billions not spiritually prepared for what is soon to become the worst timesoftrouble ever on this planet.

For many, what they think is blessing hides their hidden curse being judgement with punishment en route; and for many with faith, their seemingly curse in life will become a blessing. Psalms 33:17-22

When we have been placed within our spiritual prison for life, all that we can do is seek our daily path through instruction nobody of this world follows — because it’s not of this world. Proverbs 1, 2, 3, John 15, and Colossians 3 tell it like it is.

With all the hard times in life billions worldwide have to deal with in their own way — whether it be hunger, homeless, surrounded with massive rebel violence, death, chemical genocide, diseases, torture, wrongly in prison, a victim of human trafficking, or brutal rapes with children included – which is in truth just a part of the uncountable atrocities upon innocent human beings everywhere on this planet earth, thus my wife and I have well learned to just accepted our own difficulties for many years while seeing the little we have as more of a blessing when compared to what multitudes scattered worldwide must face each day for years and years upon more years being their entire life of nothing but hardship and survival; therefore we just deal with our own way of existence through faith and prayer going far beyond just words, and beyond our world of false Christianity having words only with nothing more.

Below is a brief description of what happened to us back in April 2016, and to this day nothing has changed because zero help has ever come our way through loving and righteous Christianity – and sadly the same holds true for those always being tortured in North Korea, and places all over this globe; and it’s all because of the incapable human rule which has always been based on power, greed, and control over our entire civilization being as nothing above worthless human trash which can easily be seen by those few on this earth seeking truth on the way things truly are. So what do politicians do? Ask Killery or even Trump why this world is nothing but lies? Ask them why billions were dumped into their smorgasbord of lies as presidential candidates rather than the power and control they have in turning billions and trillions towards helping our brutalized soon to fall United States? They won’t answer because it’s the plan of the New World Order to kill and destroy for reducing our world population through the extermination of billions.

Because of our living situation, we went looking for a place to rent even though we had no funds because; 1) my disability from old head injury long ago, 2) having no pension, social security, employment or income for these past 10 years in a 3rd world country, less 4 months work in 2012 — and 3) has been my wife’s health problems that became so extreme, she had to stop teaching 4th grade so we could move for gaining help to care for her during hard times filled with much pain. And the reason for no money was we put everything we had from the sale of our lot and home into the near unlivable shack where she had been raised, and still the home of her parents in their 80’s with no income – thus not even our own making our life as a prison needing escape with only faith being our hope.

Even after my own paint job and many repairs through months as little funds allowed, our day did not end well.

Since meeting in 2007, we have always had very little in this life; therefore having even less just comes as nothing new. By rights, Mylene and I could have easily died because when we went off the road, down into shallow embankment and flipped doing about 40 mph, and because of no seat belts we were as marbles being shaken in a can – yet neither of us was badly hurt because our guardian angel was with us; and given the way our situation in life has been for almost a decade – only those few with spiritual understanding can relate – thus what happened had purpose through more shaping and molding that Yehovah has been doing for years to prepare our faith for the hardest times within the greatest world chaos that has ever been; therefore now it’s our greatest prayer for some help that we have needed for almost a decade comes our way because we really have down to absolutely nothing for so many years with strong and valid reasons why; yet even with all my efforts towards spiritual education, what is coming upon America and this world according to the signs of the times – no help has come since this happened in April 2016.

Even though all we own is this 1997 Nissan Jeep that I had redone all the brakes, wheel cylinders, pinion seal, lights, still needs a decent radiator, fuel line, recovered the two seats, metal repair in floors, painted and more, but had no funds to rebuild the front end, replace idler arm, shocks or rear tires; thus driving that day – when the lower right control arm came loose, the front left wheel went left by itself taking us quickly off the road with no warning.

Far as our living conditions we accept. . . Her parent’s private restroom and shower they prefer, and mine below they chose not to use because it is different even though there is no flush.

Mylene’s mom and dad behind the empty shack next to us because we have no back yard beyond the outhouse.

Our only transportation has been like this since April 2016, and being I was a mechanic, welder, body man, and painter with many other hands on trades – I could have easily repaired everything for a thousand dollars, buy some food to eat, and even had a needed good needed nights sleep.

Ever heard of a living Sacrifice? Well, leaving my entire prior life in 2006 was exactly that:

I am 61 and would love a game of Chess, a drink, good music, and some normal conversations on the way things worldwide truly are. But sadly, I want far too much than this world is willing to supply.

One Big Question: Who are you in The Eyes of our Creator that knows all things with absolutely nothing ever hid?

One of self? Hate? Greed? Self-Righteous? All Knowing? Religious Hypocrite? Or like most all believers living through their words only while having Zero Action For Others In Need?

this past decade has been nothing beyond a hard, hungry, hurting, and needful life in many ways with Christians showing absolutely zero care or concern — even though the words in the Holy Bible tell exactly their coming destiny through dead faith revealed in Matthew 25:31-46 and James 2:14-17, 1 John 3:17-18 — But do they believe who they claim to love, honor, and worship?

We would be more than thankful for any help no matter how small, because just a little is far better than nothing.

https://ttimesoftrouble.wordpress.com/2016/07/10/539/ Efforts For My Spiritual Knowledge with links on our ways of life – therefore when our Father is ready He will bring us any small help such as a care package with basic foods, hygiene needs or anything individuals can spare no matter how little the amount being much to those without really anything. If you cannot help us, please at least share just for the warnings in links below.

https://dochub.com/timesoftrouble offers a good choice being many individual reads on various subjects concerning the major mess America and our entire world civilization is truly in; and includes worldwide misled Christianity according to the Bible which has left billions not spiritually prepared for what is soon to become the worst timesoftrouble ever on this planet.